FINAL
Remarks* of Deputy Attorney General
Larry Thompson to
ALI-ABA Course on Criminal Enforcement of Environmental Laws
What Can Be Expected From The New Administration?
Westin Fairfax
Washington, D.C.
Thursday, November 8, 2001
9:00 A.m. - 10:00 A.m.

Thank you for that kind introduction. it's
a pleasure to be here this morning. I recognize a number of you from when
I spoke on a panel here in 1998, and I know from looking at the lineup of
speakers today that this is going to be another great course. You are going
to hear from two of my predecessors in office, every Chief of our Environmental
Crimes Section, and a "Who's Who" of the federal environmental criminal bar,
so this will be a terrific opportunity to learn about the hot issues in the
field. I'm also glad to see that you'll be talking about vessel pollution,
which is a focus of our enforcement efforts.

In my remarks this morning, I will be talking
about what you can expect from the department in terms of criminal enforcement
of the environmental laws. Before I do that however, I will talk about how
those laws fit into the larger issues facing our nation today.

OUR RESPONSE TO SEPTEMBER 11

Since September 11, I have heard from a number
of people about the difficulty we all have experienced getting back to what
we once called "normal." We can find no acceptable "routine," it seems, while
memories of the terrible events of September 11 remain clear.

In spite of this, however, I have noticed something
remarkably normal in our common reaction to this great tragedy; I'm sure you've
noticed, too. It's spirit - that American spirit that's so difficult to define
but so easy to recognize when things get tough.

We saw this spirit in the response of the police
and fire departments and emergency medical teams at the crash sites in New
York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. We see it in the outpouring of help in money
and material donations, in the long lines of blood donors, in the many, many
community volunteer initiatives to coordinate relief for victims of the attacks.
I have experienced this personally in the many, many phone calls and e-mails
I've received from those of you in private practice asking what you could
do in helping to address the events of September 11.

We recognize this as a normal American response
to any abnormal event - we get together and help the victims, we reach out
to fellow Americans and hold our liberties closer. I can tell you I've seen
this spirit up close in the Department. It's in the extraordinary dedication
of countless law enforcement officers, attorneys, analysts, technical support
specialists, and other operational and administrative staff who are working
beyond fatigue on unprecedented matters of investigation, fact-finding, and
reporting. So many people have taken on extra work without flinching, have
arrived at their desks earlier every day and left later every evening, and
have performed admirably in dealing with matters of great sensitivity and
urgency.

The United States will prevail against the
terrorists and remain strong in defense of freedom-loving people around the
world: It's our nature. It's our spirit. It's our dedication. It's our commitment.
In short, it is our legacy.

How September 11 Transformed DOJ

Nevertheless, it's obvious to everyone in this
room that the events of September 11 constitute a watershed in the history
of the United States.

How we as a nation and a government think about
our vulnerabilities to a terrorist attack is forever changed.

The collective effort we now put into strengthening
our domestic security is of a magnitude and intensity that would have been
unthinkable before September 11.

It needs to be because the enormity of the
potential risk to civilian lives on American soil is unprecedented.

In fact, the events of September 11 have had
a transforming effect on the Department of Justice.

To be sure, the Department continues to investigate
the crimes committed on September 11, and to evaluate what prosecutorial action
may be appropriate with respect to anyone involved with those crimes - or
the potential commission of future acts.

But the overriding imperative of the Department
- and of the President - is to disrupt and prevent the occurrence of further
terrorist attacks.

We Cannot Ignore Other Criminal Conduct

But, in our fight against terrorism, we cannot
ignore other criminal conduct. Some of the conduct that gives rise to criminal
conduct is one arena turns out sometimes to be directly or even indirectly
related to our fight against terrorism.

For example, since September 11, a great deal
of my time has been devoted to the issue of homeland security and how to protect
Americans from terrorist attacks. One of the things that has become clear
to me is that it is not just our air transportation system that is subject
to terrorist attack. Our water systems, chemical plants and related facilities,
and hazardous material transportation systems are all potential targets as
well. In an effort to enhance the security of such systems and facilities,
we have been visiting them to ensure that appropriate measures are being taken
to diminish the likelihood of attacks and the consequences of any such attacks.

As part of this effort, we are relying on the
reports and information about their operations that these facilities are required
to provide under the environmental laws.

Those same laws also establish substantive
requirements that: protect drinking water supplies; mandate proper storage,
treatment, and disposal of hazardous wastes and chemical substances; and call
for facilities to develop emergency response plans.

Compliance with Environmental Lawsis Extremely Important

It is of course always important to comply
with the law, but it is particularly important now that there be scrupulous
compliance with these laws. Compliance with them is not only legally required
- it may save many lives. It is also essential that the reports and information
required by the environmental laws be complete and accurate.

There are some who disparage intentional violations
of reporting requirements as "paperwork" violations. I want you to understand
that there is much more at stake here than "paperwork." False reporting undermines
the integrity of our environmental system and can imperil our ability to adequately
protect our citizens from attack.

How Environmental Lawyers Can Help

What does this have to do with you as an environmental
lawyer? Many people have asked what they can do on a personal level to support
our nation. Many have given blood, donated money to relief efforts and so
on. But there are ways that we as lawyers can use our legal expertise to help
strengthen our defenses against terrorist attacks.

I know from my time in private practice that
many of you probably counsel your clients on environmental compliance questions.
Use this opportunity to support our country by making sure that your clients
are fully complying with the environmental laws including reporting requirements,
and that they have site security and emergency response plans in place. These
advance preparations can save lives, whatever the cause of an emergency. United,
we can prevail against assaults on human health and the environment, whatever
their source.

Criminal Environmental Enforcement

I would like to turn now to the topic of what
you can expect from us in terms of criminal enforcement of the environmental
laws. In case the message was not clear from what I've already said, you can
expect us to have no patience with those who lie to regulators, their customers,
and the public, and who obstruct environmental investigations. In fact, it
is fair to say that this type of conduct - which is heartland Title 18 criminal
behavior - is a one-way ticket to a criminal case from a matter that might
otherwise be resolved civilly.

Just this year, we had a case in which an individual
was contacted as part of a civil enforcement effort. Because he obstructed
the civil investigation by submitting false forms and forging signatures,
he is now looking at a prison sentence and criminal fines.

We are also focusing on prosecuting fraud by
environmental laboratories and testing firms. As I have mentioned, many environmental
regulatory programs rely on accurate reporting. Labs and other companies who
attempt to pass themselves off as providing accurate testing services when
they are in fact either fudging the numbers or pulling them out of thin air
are endangering human health and the environment, cheating their customers,
and unfairly undercutting their competitors. We are therefore making a concerted
effort to root out and prosecute this type of fraud.

Another type of conduct that cannot be tolerated
is conduct which endangers the health of workers and our communities. We have
several cases in this area that we are prosecuting right now, and it's been
our experience that they involve defendants risking the health of some of
the most disadvantaged people in our society in order to get an unfair advantage
over law-abiding businesses. It's not right, it's not fair, and we will continue
to prosecute this type of conduct.

Like in our fight against terrorism, the investigation
and development of many of our environmental cases require considerable teamwork,
not just among federal agencies, but with states and local law enforcement
agencies as well. our State partners are often on the front lines of environmental
enforcement, and the results that we obtain in a number of our environmental
cases wouldn't be nearly as good without their help. In some cases, they wouldn't
be possible at all. Because of the great results that we get when we work
with them, expect this to be another priority.

Before I close, I would like to mention our
wildlife criminal enforcement program. Many people are not aware that the
market in illegal traffic in wildlife and flora is third only to drugs and
arms in size, and that we have a criminal program targeting this traffic,
and enforcement in this area is important.

One of our recent successful prosecutions in
this area involved an international live reptile-trafficker from Malaysia.
Among other methods of smuggling, he and his co-conspirators would use FedEx
shipments to illegally import live animals, many of them worth tens of thousands
of dollars. Federal agents seized the smuggled animals as evidence, but this
presented the problem of what to do with the animals when the case was over.
You might appreciate the difficulty more if I tell you that one of the reptiles
in question was a Komodo dragon, which grows to approximately 150 pounds in
size and can be quite fierce. (I am told that a female has been observed eating
a 66-pound boar in 17 minutes.) So the Fish & Wildlife Service decided
in this case that the best course of action would be to turn over the Komodo
dragon to the Los Angeles Zoo for display. If you were following the news
this summer, you may have heard about it. It was the one that attacked Sharon
Stone's husband when she took him for a surprise birthday visit to the zoo.

Thank you again for this opportunity to talk
to you about criminal enforcement of the environmental laws.

*NOTE: Mr. Thompson frequently speaks from notes and may depart from the
speech as prepared. However, he stands behind the speech as presented in written
format.